All stories by Jesse Green on BroadwayStars

Wednesday, July 31, 2019

My Summer With Hal by Jesse Green

As a lowly apprentice on a notorious flop, I got to see how the “Dark Prince” achieved his effects and cut his losses.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 07:42PM
Monday, July 29, 2019

Dancing Boys and a Bloodthirsty Plant Sidle Up to Shakespeare by Jesse Green

Better known for its classics, the Stratford Festival has long presented fine-tuned versions of Broadway musicals. This year: “Billy Elliot” and “Little Shop of Horrors.”

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 04:18PM
Friday, July 26, 2019

Review: Is Hannah Gadsby’s ‘Douglas’ Stand-Up? Theater? Yes, Please. by Jesse Green

A follow-up to the startling and divisive “Nanette” is just as startling and probably just as divisive.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 05:12PM
Thursday, July 25, 2019

Review: Sondheim’s Bumpy ‘Road Show,’ Now at the End of the Line by Jesse Green

An Encores! Off-Center revival reveals the tantalizing cleverness and intractable faults of the 1997 (and 1999, 2003, 2004 and 2008) musical.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 03:06PM
Tuesday, July 23, 2019

Review: She Belts. She Brawls. She’s a ‘Broadway Bounty Hunter.’ by Jesse Green

Annie Golden stars in a musical B-movie pastiche that lands in the gap between tribute and spoof.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 10:18PM
Monday, July 22, 2019

At the Stratford Festival, Sexual Power and Paranoia by Jesse Green

This season’s wide-ranging offerings, including Shakespeare and “Little Shop of Horrors,” reveal the surprising root of our longest-lasting stories.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 02:36PM
Thursday, July 18, 2019

Review: Chekhov’s ‘Three Sisters,’ Now with Upspeak and Emojis by Jesse Green

Halley Feiffer’s “Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow” turns the master’s refined Russians into “Mean Girls.”

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 11:06PM
Wednesday, July 10, 2019

Listen to the Sound of Love Reinvented in ‘Oklahoma!’ (Headphones On) by Jesse Green

How did a lush throwback like “People Will Say We’re in Love” become the lean, sexy, countrified number being sung today? Follow along as we break it down.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 07:24PM

Listen to the Sound of Love Reinvented in ‘Oklahoma!’ (Headphones On.) by Jesse Green

How did a lush throwback like “People Will Say We’re in Love” become the lean, sexy, countrified number being sung today? Follow along as we break it down.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 04:54PM
Friday, July 5, 2019

Tales of Curses, Literal and Metaphorical, in the Berkshires by Jesse Green

A new work — and revivals of a classic play and musical — are having a conversation about different kinds of incarceration.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 01:36PM
Thursday, June 27, 2019

Review: Surviving a Family From Hell in ‘We’re Only Alive’ by Jesse Green

In a memory play with songs, the monologuist David Cale recreates the chaos of his youth in a rough town and a violent home.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 10:42PM

Review: In ‘Dragon Spring Phoenix Rise,’ Eyes Wide Mind Numb by Jesse Green

The world premiere “kung fu musical” at the Shed isn’t much of either.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 10:42PM
Thursday, June 20, 2019

Review: In ‘Toni Stone,’ America’s Pastime Meets America’s Problem by Jesse Green

April Matthis’s sensational performance anchors Lydia R. Diamond’s play about the first woman of any race to appear in a professional baseball game.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 11:42PM
Thursday, June 13, 2019

Review: ‘The Secret Life of Bees’ Is a Musical Lacking a Sting by Jesse Green

Despite its top creative team, an adaptation of the popular Sue Monk Kidd novel feels like a first draft.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 10:48PM
Tuesday, June 11, 2019

Review: In Central Park, a ‘Much Ado’ About Something Big by Jesse Green

A delicious production of the great Shakespearean comedy starring Danielle Brooks and set squarely in our #MeToo and Black Lives Matter moment.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 10:54PM
Sunday, June 9, 2019

The Dressing Rooms of Broadway: 33 Photos Over Nearly a Century by Jesse Green and Betsy Horan

For decades, our photographers have gotten intimate access backstage. Peek in as they capture stars, before the show and before the mirror.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 09:12PM
Tuesday, June 4, 2019

Review: In ‘Ms. Blakk for President,’ a Winning Losing Campaign by Jesse Green

Based on real events, the Steppenwolf Theater Company’s new play tells the story of a Chicago drag queen who throws her fabulous hat into the ring.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 05:36PM
Sunday, June 2, 2019

On Chicago’s Stages, Women With Problems by Jesse Green

Working opposite ends of the volume spectrum, two musicals, the new “Six” and a reinterpreted “Next to Normal,” find their levels.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 01:12PM
Thursday, May 30, 2019

Review: ‘Frankie and Johnny’ Were Lovers. Then Came Morning. by Jesse Green

Audra McDonald and Michael Shannon star in a touching revival of Terrence McNally’s play about first and last chances.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 10:48PM
Tuesday, May 28, 2019

Review: ‘The Flamingo Kid,’ a Musical Not Yet in Flight by Jesse Green

There’s plenty to enjoy in this adaptation of a 1984 movie set at a Long Island beach club. But plenty to fix, as well.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 06:24PM
Sunday, May 26, 2019

Live From 458 B.C., What the Greeks Mean to Me by Jesse Green

A new adaptation of “The Oresteia” reminds us that a 2,400-year-old work can still feel appallingly familiar.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 03:48PM
Thursday, May 23, 2019

Review: ‘Dear Evan Hansen,’ With a Real Teenage Evan by Jesse Green

Now in its third year, this Broadway hit has grown up by aging down.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 04:54PM
Tuesday, May 21, 2019

Review: ‘Continuity’ Takes a Shot at the End of the World by Jesse Green

Can a foolish mainstream movie dramatize ecological crisis? Can a smart play?

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 10:32PM
Tuesday, May 14, 2019

Review: Sifting the Evidence for ‘Proof of Love,’ She Has Lots to Say by Jesse Green

At the center of Chisa Hutchinson’s one-woman play, written for Audible, is a love triangle with just one side in view.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 10:48PM
Friday, May 10, 2019

Critic’s Pick: Review: In ‘BLKS,’ Meet the Real Roommates of Bed-Stuy by Jesse Green

Merciless comedy shades to delicate tragedy in a terrific playwriting debut from the poet and performer Aziza Barnes.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 01:04AM
Monday, May 6, 2019

Review: In ‘Cadillac Crew,’ a Road Trip Through Racism and Erasure by Jesse Green

Women on the front lines of danger in 1963 were often pushed to the backbench of the civil rights movement. A new play gives them their due.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 06:36PM
Wednesday, May 1, 2019

Review: ‘Paul Swan Is Dead and Gone,’ but First, He’s Dévastaté by Jesse Green

A flamboyant artiste who danced nearly naked into his 80s gives one last performance in a new play from the Civilians.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 10:48PM
Tuesday, April 30, 2019

Critics’ Notebook: When It Came to the Tony Nominations, the News Is the New by Jesse Green and Ben Brantley

New York Times theater critics on a Tonys roster that highlighted originality, if not diversity, and made room for some welcome surprises.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 01:06PM
Tuesday, April 23, 2019

Critic’s Pick: Review: ‘Tootsie,’ a Musical Comedy That Fills Some Mighty Big Heels by Jesse Green

The Broadway adaptation of the 1982 movie is the rare reimagining that actually keeps you laughing.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 09:45PM
Monday, April 22, 2019

Review: Arthur Miller’s ‘All My Sons,’ With All Its Seams Showing by Jesse Green

An old-fashioned, overliteral revival of the 1947 play stars Tracy Letts and Annette Bening.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 09:45PM
Sunday, April 21, 2019

Critic’s Pick: Review: Taylor Mac’s ‘Gary’ Finds Hope and Humor on a Pile of Corpses by Jesse Green

This comedic sequel to “Titus Andronicus” finds Nathan Lane and Kristine Nielsen cleaning up after a Shakespearean blood bath.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 09:45PM

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